Credo Quia Absurdum

by Sophie Martin

  “Oh.” Joel hadn’t thought about it like that, but it made sense. He supposed every action had consequences, even in a magical and paranormal world.

  “Yeah.” Tim nodded in understanding. “It is scary to think what could happen if Jay started using his powers and brought some Egyptian plagues on us.”

  “You’re right,” Joel agreed. “But it means that even though he’s extremely powerful, he cannot really use these powers, right?”

  “Not exactly. He simply keeps it for emergencies only,” Tim explained.

  “Yeah, he used it to free Toby and Tyler, and then Tim and other captives as well,” Jim added.

  “Okay, so he’s scary powerful, doesn’t use his powers unless it’s a true emergency, but when he does there isn’t anything he can’t do, does it sum it up?” Joel asked, trying to clarify.

  “Not exactly.” Tim shook his head. “He does have one limitation.”

  “Oh?” Joel was curious.

  “Apparently he cannot interfere with free will. It is odd, because he can kill someone with a word, but cannot force them to do something that goes against their values.”

  “Wow!” Joel was shocked.

  “Yeah.” Tim nodded and Joel shook his head in disbelief. There was nothing more to say. Paranormal world was crazy that was for sure. Joel wondered what he’d gotten himself into. Turning in his seat he stared out the window.

  Joel didn’t know what to think. Accepting that your cousin was a werewolf, wolf shifter, whatever, and your new flatmate a pixie was one thing. Getting introduced to some freaky, powerful Alpha demigod was different. Up until now, the knowledge of the paranormal world hadn’t interfered with his day-to-day life, beside the times when he helped with Timiny’s little dust problem. The helping part was cool, he was cool with it. He liked helping people, really liked the crazy little fey, and was glad he could help him in any way. But right then, he did not know what to expect from the meeting. It all made him nervous, and Joel did not deal well with being nervous, so he shut himself off from the world around him and sat in the backseat of the car, staring out the window.

  In the front seat, Jim chattered happily with Dominic about meeting their friends again. The little ball of excitement that was his cousin’s mate really looked forward to seeing the tiger-shifting Tyler and the man’s boyfriends. Dom nodded in all the appropriate places, and interjected a word here and there, but mostly the pixie kept the conversation going without anyone’s help.

  Joel was happy for his cousin. Dom was the strong, silent type. He had never dealt well with human interactions, so seeing him as happy as he was with Jim made Joel’s heart swell. He also admired his cousin. With as much energy as Jim exuded, it had to be exhausting to keep up with him. Joel much preferred Tim’s quiet, calming presence. Even now, sitting next to him in the backseat and looking out the opposite window, his flatmate was a source of reassurance for Joel.

  “Look, look, we’re almost there! Wow, look at all these cars! Who do you think they belong to? I know one is Jason’s, and one belongs to Jack, but what about the rest? There’s, what, five of them? How many people actually joined the pack when we weren’t here?” Jim kept talking until Dominic pulled the car to a stop and put his hand over his mate’s.

  “Calm down, sweet. It’s gonna be all right, yes?”

  “But what if they don’t like me? What if they hate me? I can’t be the odd little pixie again, Dom, I just can’t!” Jim was getting agitated, and tears filled his eyes, quickly turning into sobs.

  “They’re all gonna love you, babe. What’s not to love?”

  “Yeah,” Tim added, “and if they don’t, I’ll tell Tyler to bite them!”

  “Oh, now, I’ve got a better idea!” Dominic exclaimed. “We’ll sick Toby on them!”

  “You wouldn’t be so cruel!” Tim faked a gasp, putting a hand to his chest in pretended shock.

  “Sure I would! Anything to protect my little mate.” Dominic winked to his brother-in-law. That made Jim laugh even as he tried to hold back his sniffles.

  “Oh, stop it, you two. You’re making me laugh when I’m trying to cry, and I’ll get hiccups from it!” Still, the reassurances seemed to work, because the small fey gradually calmed down. “Okay, I’m fine now.” He nodded as if trying to convince himself. “We can go in.” He didn’t look to be completely confident, and Joel decided that, what the hell? He could at least try and help.

  “If it’s any help, I think you’re pretty awesome, Jim. I’m very happy for Dom that he found you, and a little bit jealous of it as well. You’re exactly what my cousin needs, and don’t you let anyone tell you otherwise. I’m proud to call you my friend,” he stated in a calm, even tone.

  “Really?” Jim’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “You really mean that?”

  “Of course I do. I think you’re a good, loyal man, and pretty fun to hang out with. You’re a pretty good catch, if I can say so myself.” A low growl from Dominic startled him, and Joel looked at his frowning cousin. Dominic wore a big scowl and his eyes flashed to wolf ones and back quickly. Then he cleared his throat when Jim slapped his chest in warning.

  “Sorry, Joel, my wolf doesn’t like you talking to our mate like this. He thinks we should be the only ones allowed to admire our mate.” Dominic looked pretty embarrassed by his outburst.

  “Well then, the animal has another thing coming!” Jim suddenly scowled and waved a finger in Dom’s face. “Give him here, I want to talk to him!” he demanded.

  “Um, mate, I don’t think it’s such a good idea right now,” Dominic hedged.

  “I don’t care. I want to talk to the big brute and set him straight. Bring him forth!” Dom sighed but did as ordered. It was clear that there was no point arguing when Jim really wanted something. Joel watched in astonishment as Dominic relaxed and brought his animal side forward. When he opened his eyes again, Joel gasped. His cousin’s eyes were yellow, the whites having bled out completely, and the look was pure wolf.

  “Mate!” the wolf-Dominic growled. “Mine!” He turned to Joel and snarled. Actually snarled at him!

  “Yeah, sure, man, whatever you say.” Joel lifted his hands in an “I surrender” gesture. Just then, Jiminy intervened.

  “No! Bad mate!” he scolded, slapping Dominic’s chest again. The wolf startled and turned to his mate with a low whine.

  “Mate?” Dominic-wolf’s voice was more gravely than his normal, human one and Joel couldn’t get over how strange it was.

  “You do not get to snarl at everyone who says they like me, mate!”

  “Mate mine!” the wolf insisted, but Jiminy wasn’t having any of it.

  “I am yours, but Joel is your family! Your pack! You don’t snarl at him for making me feel better. Apologise!” The little fey crossed his arms over his chest and waited impatiently. Joel could almost hear the mental foot tapping. Wolf-Dominic growled, but Jim only stared him down, not relenting. Finally, the wolf lowered his eyes submissively and whined. Joel was getting really freaked out by the show, but it was nothing compared to what came next. Jim repeated again, “Apologise!” and the next thing he knew, an image invaded Joel’s mind and he gasped.

  “What, what is it?” Tim was the one to look at him in alarm.

  “I just had a weird vision of a huge, dark-gray wolf licking my chin appear in my head. I know I didn’t conjure it myself. It came from somewhere else,” he said, pretty shaken.

  “Ah, that makes sense.” Tim was the picture of calm and collected.

  “What?” both Joel and Jiminy asked in the same second.

  Tim made that long-suffering face of his and massaged the base of his nose with his forefinger and thumb as he answered. “Alpha wolves have the ability to communicate with their pack members in thoughts. It seems that Dominic’s wolf truly considers Joel his pack, and he sent the image of himself performing a submissive action on Joel, as a way of apologizing. It’s as good as it gets with an alpha shifter apologizing,” he explained.


  “Really?” Joel didn’t know what to say. His world was getting weirder by second. Jiminy didn’t have the same problem. He took Dominic’s face in his hands and kissed the man’s chin.

  “Good mate! You did well! Who’s my strong alpha wolf?” he cooed as wolf-Dominic nearly panted with happiness.

  “Mate happy?”

  “Yeas I’m very happy, my big protector. Remember, you don’t need to protect me from other people being nice, do you understand?” The pixie looked Joel’s cousin deep in the eyes. Dominic frowned as if deep in thought.

  “Nice good?”

  “Yes, nice is good!”

  “Wolf not like others nice to mate! Mate mine!” The wolf was obviously a stubborn bastard.

  “I am yours and only yours. You don’t need to tell everyone that. They’ll know.”

  “Others know mate mine?” The poor creature was clearly confused. Tim took a sudden intake of breath and addressed his brother.

  “Jim, I think I know what it is all about.”

  “Hmm?” Jim asked, peeking at his twin over Dominic’s shoulder.

  “The wolf did not grow up around a pack, so he doesn’t know the customs. He can sense all the other paranormals close, and is unsure of his place as your mate. Joel complimenting you was just an excuse to lash out. He needs to know you’re marked as his.” The pixie then addressed Dominic. “Dom, look at me, Dom!” The yellow wolf eyes turned to Timiny and the pixie explained. “They can smell you on Jimmy. They know he is yours. Nobody will touch him. Everyone knows that he’s your mate and they will keep their distance, okay? You don’t need to protect him from everybody. He wears your mark. He is yours and you are his.”

  “Mate mine!” The wolf-Dominic nodded to himself as if satisfied with the reassurance, and then his eyes blinked and were back to normal. “Um, what happened? The beast is now much calmer.”

  “Tim discovered what the real problem was and calmed your wolf,” Jim said, and Dominic turned to Timiny.

  “Thanks, Tim. I don’t know how you did it, but I could feel the creature getting more and more agitated on the ride here. He’s now peaceful. You’re a miracle worker.”

  “No, I’m just good at reading between the lines. Your wolf was insecure about his place as Jim’s mate. That’s probably because you haven’t shifted yet and the wolf hasn’t gotten to spend much time with Jim as just him. I simply assured him that nobody would dare to poach your mate from him.”

  “They better not or I’ll disembowel them!” This time it was human Dominic’s threat.

  “Okay, can we now please go and get it over with?” Joel exploded all of a sudden. It seemed that he was more nervous than he thought.

  “Yeah, we probably should. By now, I’m sure everyone felt us being here and they’re probably wondering what’s taking us so long. It’s best we don’t keep them waiting.” Tim reinforced his words with a nod and exited the car, everyone following after him.

  Okay, here goes nothing! Joel was nearly shaking with nerves as they climbed up the steps, and Jim knocked on the door, bouncing in place. Almost immediately, the door opened and Joel met Ty, who was to be just the first of many paranormals he would meet that night.

  Chapter Six

  “Well, who have we got here? Is that the little puppy and his fairy?” Tim could hear a drawling voice from the door, and he immediately knew who it was that opened it.

  “I wish you would stop teasing my mate, Ty. You know he doesn’t like it!” Jiminy huffed and pushed his way past the big cat, pulling his mate behind him. Tim rolled his eyes at the big shifter’s laugh and made his way inside.

  “Oh, and who’s the newcomer?” Ty asked, his stance shifting to more imposing. Tim could almost sense Joel’s uneasiness from behind him, and he rolled his eyes again, this time letting Ty see it.

  “Stop intimidating Joel, Ty. He’s human and you know it. No point in showing him what a big, bad kitty you are.”

  “Who’s a bad kitty?” a young, melodic voice asked from the end of the hallway. “Did you shed on the sofa again, Ty? I told you not to shift in the living room. If I need to contact the reupholstering services again, I’m gonna banish you from our bed for a week. The last time you shredded the footstool with those claws of yours!”

  “Babe, you’re ruining my bad-boy image here,” Ty whined as Toby approached them.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry. I never knew you had one!” said Toby in fake surprise, making Tyler pout. Then the young man turned to Tim with a brilliant grin and went to hug him.

  “Timmy! I missed you so much. How have you been?”

  “Very well. I moved out of Dom’s apartment to give the two lovebirds some much-needed privacy. This is my new flatmate, Dominic’s cousin Joel. Joel, meet the man that helped save me, Toby.”

  “It’s very nice to meet you, Joel. Finally, someone who is human like me. I was starting to feel like the world was filled with paranormals, and humans were an endangered species.” Toby smiled, shaking Joel’s hand.

  “Good to meet you, too, Toby. I’ve heard much about you.”

  “Only good things, I hope? Anyway, let’s go to the living room, everyone’s gathered there. I think the meeting is about to start. We were only waiting for you,” Toby said and waved them down the corridor. “We’ve got lots to discuss.”

  As they entered the living room, Tim was surprised with the number of paranormals in there. Of course there was Jason and his two mates. Tim also expected Jack. The cuberow shifter lived there, after all. But there were about five more people in there whom Timiny had never met. The tension in Joel intensified, and Tim could hear him mumbling.

  “Great, they’re all paranormals, stronger, faster, and more powerful than you, no biggie.” Tim couldn’t help the man, as he himself got tense. The sight of Jason wasn’t reassuring at all. He had his “serial killer” face, no emotions showing. Toby sighed from behind Tim and the pixie turned to look at his friend.

  “He’s been like that ever since the first person came. He’s not good with strangers in our house. It’s like he needs his emotions gone in order to protect us from whatever threat might come.” Toby smiled a sad little smile. “He turns back to normal as soon as the strangers leave, so that’s okay. I only wish he wasn’t so hard on himself afterwards. He beats himself up that he wasn’t giving us moral support, when we know it’s his way of dealing with things. Eric explained to us that it’s a fairly normal occurrence in those few demigods-turned-gods. The lack of emotions is a symptom of the turn, and it goes away after a while, just to be called on whenever the individual thinks it’s needed.” Toby shook his head and finished before leaving to join his mates on the sofa. “Anyway, don’t be bothered by it. I’m sure he’ll be back to normal once everyone else leaves.”

  Tim felt Joel coming closer to him.

  “What exactly did he mean?” Tim looked at him and the man’s uneasiness was pretty obvious.

  “It’s about Jason. His emotions are gone for the moment.”

  “What do you mean, ‘gone’?”

  “Exactly what I said. He loses his emotions at times of stress or around people he doesn’t know or doesn’t trust. He was like this when I first met him, when they rescued me and the others.” Before he had time to explain in more detail, a young-looking, slim man stood up and clapped his hands for attention. Once he had it, he cleared his throat and spoke.

  “Hello and welcome, everyone, to this first obligatory pack meeting. I’m Jack Robinson, and I’m the pack Alpha’s advisor. Before we get to the important news we’ve got to share, we decided that it would be good to get to know each other, since we’re a newly formed pack and all. I know it’s a bit ridiculous, but I think the best way is for everyone to come forward and tell us a few things about yourself. I’ll start. Like I said, my name is Jack Robinson, and I’m a cuberow shifter and the Alpha’s advisor. I’m also a teacher. I teach history in local school. The only other thing that I can think of is that I was rescued by the Alpha from some very b
ad people, and I will forever be in his debt. Thank you.” Jack nodded and stepped back. Toby chose this moment to come forth.

  “What Jack forgot to mention is that he is also the reason this pack even exists. As a cuberow, he couldn’t survive without a pack, so Jason created one for him when we rescued him. Anyway, hi, I’m Toby, mate to Jason, the Alpha, and Tyler, the tiger shifter. I’m human and I work with Jay in an animal shelter. I was also rescued by Jason. He freed me from a vampire, who kept me as a slave for years.” Toby went silent and Tyler joined him.

  “My name is Tyler Rhodes and I’m a tiger shifter. I’m Toby and Jason’s mate and a web designer. I like long prowls in the jungle at sunset in my tiger form and annoying other people.” He smirked as everyone laughed at his joke. “I will also speak for my mate, your Alpha, when all of you finish your stories.”

  “Okay, I’ll go next.” A tall, slim man with dark hair and very fair skin stood up. He nursed a glass of something that looked like red wine and swirled it. “My name is Mark and I’m a vampire.” There were gasps all around and someone spoke up.

  “Aren’t vampires allergic to sunlight?”

  “No, it’s a very common misconception. Only those of us who went crazy with bloodlust are unable to go into sunlight. Normal vampires like me simply have a very fair complexion, and are easily burned without sunscreen. Anyway, I work for the County Council in the department of development. I’ve lived in the area for years and never knew there were so many paranormals around. Um, okay, I think that’s all.” He stepped back to where he’d previously sat on a chair in the corner. Next, a young-looking couple came forth.

  “My name is Jane, and this is my husband Troy. Troy is a seal shifter and I’m a wolf. We are mates.” The woman spoke quickly and took on a guarded look. Her husband, an unimposing man, stood behind her and squeezed her shoulders reassuringly. Tim saw how tense they were, as if expecting something bad to happen, so he decided to diffuse this tension.